Avalanche Notebook: Some things to remember as season dawns

Avalanche season officially begins Wednesday night, so I thought it would be good to run down a few things to know and remember moving forward:

• You do NOT have to show proof of vaccination to attend Avs games at Ball Arena. But you will have to wear a mask still.
• Wednesday’s game starts at 8 p.m., not the normal 7 p.m
• That’s because the game will be on national TV, on TNT. Brendan Burke, Darren Pang and Jamal Mayers will handle the broadcasting duties for the game, and the Great One, Anson Carter, Rick Tocchet and Paul “Biz Nasty” Bissonette will be analyzing between periods and after, in studio.
• You WILL be able to watch the game, no matter what cable package you have. It is one of 13 Avs games that will be on national TV, and Altitude won’t be broadcasting it simultaneously. So, no local blackout.
• The other 69 regular-season games, though? If you have Comcast or Dish and live in the vast Denver metro area, you’re still screwed. Here is the full Avs TV broadcast schedule.
• While the team hasn’t said anything official, Jared Bednar is not expected to be on the bench tomorrow. He’s still in Covid protocol.
• Hey, I do some work with them, so, yes, this is a plug: On 104.3 The Fan this season, there will be a 30-minute postgame show for ALL 82 games, weekends included. The great Sandy Clough and Shawn Drotar will take turns doing the show, and you’ll also be able to hear yours truly on them. I promise I’ll watch my language.
• We at Colorado Hockey Now are still running a nice sale: a full year of coverage for $20.21, down from the usual $29.99. Click on the subscribe button here or up top, click on the yearly plan and put the code word 2021 in the checkout box and you’ll be good to go. Sale won’t last forever, so get moving, fence-sitters. More content will be going behind the paywall soon.
• Oh, and it’s an ad-free experience when you subscribe. No annoying pop-ups like the “free” site version.
• We still put plenty of free content – including this post – on the site, though. Much more than any other site covering the Avs.
• We want to cover as much of the team on the road as we can – even though locker rooms are still closed to the media, which is a big bummer and makes going on the road less enticing. Myself, Terry and Scott would all put your Avs Travel Tip Jar donations to good, economical use. Why, just today Terry was saying how much he misses staying at Red Roof Inns. Want to chip in? Here’s your link.
• But I don’t think we’ll be on the road as much, though, with locker rooms still closed. They’re also closed to me right now for a while, as I’m still in the penalty box with the Avs for saying a bad word in that MacKinnon Zoom call.
• Eric Lacroix will join Conor McGahey in the radio booth for some games this season.
• Don’t forget the Colorado Eagles either. Lots of good prospects will be playing there, and fans are allowed back into the stands. No vax proof required either.

Here is the Avs’ current cap situation:

The #GoAvsGo opening roster submission has $1.38M Cap Space with 21 players (12F/7D/2G) + Toews & Francouz IR.
They only have space to call up 1 additional player until more cap space accrues.

It includes $1.74M in Carryover Bonus Overageshttps://t.co/Azpe41fAYI

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 11, 2021